Martial Saint through Reading

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: In Front of Outsiders, Call Me Junior Brother Liang

Filled it in? 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

I wanted Senior Brother’s verses.

Liang Yuan lowered his head for a look...

"Hm?"

This poem?!

Ning Hao immediately leaned in as well, and with just one glance, he felt his heart leap.

On the painting, the poem written in still-wet ink—actually...

"It actually has more depth than Senior Brother’s verses!" Liang Yuan muttered.

As soon as he finished, Liang Yuan felt a cold gaze sweep across him.

Ning Hao looked over the poem again, then at the landscape painting.

Though he could hardly believe it, the poem Chu Ming wrote fit better and was even more poetic than what he’d put down that afternoon.

"Junior Brother Chu," he looked at Chu Ming seriously, "did you paint this?"

"Yes." Chu Ming nodded.

Liang Yuan couldn’t say why, but Ning Hao’s questioning felt somehow off.

Rolling his eyes with equal seriousness, he pressed, "Did you write this poem... No, did you come up with it yourself?"

"..."

So, this is turning into a silent rivalry?

Chu Ming stood between the two, and quietly said, "How about we eat first, and you can teach me later, Senior Brothers?"

Teach you?

Who are you asking to teach?

What exactly do you want to be taught?!

Poetry? Calligraphy and painting?

Your poem is better than Senior Brother Ningx’s!

Your copied painting is identical to Junior Brother Liang’s!

In that instant, Ning Hao recalled all the times he’d urged Chu Ming to study poetry well.

Liang Yuan glanced at the painting on the table, trying to spot any flaw—but there just wasn’t any.

Is my talent really in painting and calligraphy?

Why is it that someone can master skills I spent years learning—in just one day?

How can there be such people?

The more this went on, the more suffocating Liang Yuan felt, and the more he wanted to find fault in the painting.

No, I shouldn’t think like this!

Liang Yuan, feeling blocked, switched his train of thought.

Junior Brother Chu was taught by me... Yes, my real talent isn’t painting and calligraphy, but teaching others to paint!

"Junior Brother Liang, let’s go eat first." Ning Hao spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

"Alright! Let’s go!"

Liang Yuan was about to roll up the painting, but Ning Hao beat him to it, properly putting it away.

The three walked to the dining hall.

"Senior Brother Liang, Senior Brother Ningx, how much can you sell a copied painting for?"

Chu Ming voiced his question.

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan ate, both feeling much better.

"Not much." Liang Yuan picked up a piece of meat, "A painting might fetch two or three taels."

Ning Hao also picked up some meat, smiling, "If there’s a poem, that adds another one or two taels."

So a painting could get three or four taels?

Chu Ming was a bit stunned—not expecting that copied paintings could fetch so much money. If it were an original...

But one thing puzzled him: If copied paintings could sell for so much silver, why did both Senior Brothers not seem wealthy?

One claims to be from a low-class family, the other relies on family monthly salary?

"Senior Brother, what if you copied more paintings..."

He was about to ask, but Liang Yuan cut him off: "Junior Brother, what are you thinking? Copying a painting isn’t that easy!"

"Senior Brother, to copy Master Tang Bai’s landscape painting, I spent two whole months studying the original, then finally started to paint—and it took over ten days to finish just one...hm?"

At that, Liang Yuan’s voice abruptly stopped.

Ning Hao, eating at a leisurely pace, suddenly froze.

Both had the same shocking realization flash through their minds.

"Junior Brother Chu, you copied that painting this afternoon?" Liang Yuan asked hastily.

Ning Hao’s gaze locked onto Chu Ming like a hawk.

Chu Ming nodded ever so slightly.

Yet even this tiny gesture made Ning Hao and Liang Yuan feel a tidal wave inside.

Half a day—to copy a famed painting!

The two stared at Chu Ming as if he were some kind of monster.

"Master Chu...no, Senior Brother Chu, this meal’s on you!"

Who?

Senior Brother Chu?

"Ahem...well, from now on, out in public, I’ll call you Senior Brother Chu."

Liang Yuan’s face flushed, whether from excitement or something else, unclear.

"Senior Brother Liang..."

"No, call me Junior Brother Liang." Liang Yuan insisted righteously, "This is for your protection. You just entered the academy but already mastered copying famed calligraphy and paintings—this mustn’t get out, or...it could be dangerous."

"Senior Brother Ningx, right?"

Ning Hao glanced sideways.

Is this really protection?

Why does it sound more like hiding the fact that the junior’s better than the seniors?

So just switch how we address each other?

Liang Yuan worried Ning Hao wouldn’t get it, so he reminded more seriously: "Senior Brother Ningx—poems! Mr. Shen!"

Ning Hao paused, then solemnly said, "Right, as the saying goes, ’talent doesn’t match the position.’ Junior Brother Liang has a point. Chu...Senior Brother, people’s minds are unpredictable; better to be cautious."

Sounds pretty reasonable.

But...is that really what ’talent doesn’t match the position’ means?

Feels a bit forced...

If you can’t fix the talent, just fix the position, huh?

"Senior Brothers..." Chu Ming put down his chopsticks, "Could you help me sell my paintings?"

He didn’t care about titles—all that mattered was earning money.

"Of course!" Liang Yuan was excited, "Anything Senior Brother Chu needs is my responsibility. Just paint away, and Ning Hao and I will take care of selling. Just keep us fed!"

Ning Hao wasn’t so effusive—he simply nodded quietly.

"Good. Senior Brother Liang, one more thing: the original landscape painting you copied—could I take a look?" Chu Ming asked.

Liang Yuan hesitated: "Not that I wouldn’t let you, Senior Brother Chu, but Mr. Tang Bai’s original—who could afford it..."

"If Senior Brother Chu wants to see it, you’ll have to go to the Calligraphy and Painting Workshop in Baiyuan County. Master Tang Bai’s ’True Map of Mountains and Rivers’—it’s unique, and it’s kept there."

His claim of studying Tang Bai’s calligraphy for two months was really him hanging out at the workshop for two months.

"Junior Brother Liang is still studying Tang Bai’s ’True Map of Mountains and Rivers’?"

Just then, a figure walked over from not far away.

This voice...where have I heard it?

Chu Ming looked over.

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan immediately stood, giving a slight bow, "Senior Brother Xu."

"Senior Brother Xu." Chu Ming greeted as well.

The newcomer was Xu He, whom Chu Ming had met once, and who, by order of Feng Yuan, had helped arrange his lodging.

And beside Xu He stood Xiaang Changgu, who had ranked first in Jade Town Institute, flawlessly recited three passages from ’Poetry, Politics, and Military’, and entered directly into the Upper Academy.

Xu He returned the bow with a simple gesture, his gaze passing over Ning Hao and Liang Yuan before settling on Chu Ming: "So Junior Brother Chu has finally arrived."

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for arranging a place to stay." Chu Ming replied.

"Haha, it was nothing." Xu He sat down, motioning to Xiaang Changgu to take a seat as well.

"Junior Brother Ningx, Junior Brother Liang, this is Xiaang Changgu—Junior Brother Xiaang, who joined the academy along with Junior Brother Chu, only, he’s Upper Academy."

Upper Academy?!

Ning Hao and Liang Yuan were both startled, hastily bowing to Xiaang Changgu.

Xiang Changgu’s expression was distant, with a trace of aloofness—he returned their bow rather stiffly.

"I just heard about Tang Bai’s ’True Map of Mountains and Rivers’. Junior Brother Liang, how’s your copying coming?"

Xu He finished his introduction, glanced at the food on the table, and joked with a smile, "Such fine dishes—did Junior Brother Liang manage to copy Tang Bai’s ’True Map of Mountains and Rivers’?"